Unexpected
by LordMomo
Summary: Continuing her dream to be a top Coordinator, May is now travelling through Johto and experiencing a new chapter in her life with her rivals. But May soon learns that she should always expect the unexpected. The universe always has other plans, this time in the form of an angry legendary Pokemon. For Advanceshipping Week 2017! First multi-chapter story!
1. Cupcake Blues

**A/N: Hey everyone! I wanted to write something for the upcoming Advanceshipping week, but I wanted to go big or go home... so multi-chapter story it is. It's my first time writing one, promise I worked hard on it! Enjoy. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, sadly.**

* * *

 **UNEXPECTED**  
 **  
Chapter 1: Cupcake Blues**

May stared longingly through the brightly-lit bakery store window. It was decorated with various cakes, cupcakes, macarons, and other desserts the brunette had never seen before.

Her eyes landed and honed in on a baby blue cupcake, it was the most beautiful cupcake she had ever seen in her life, and she wanted it in her belly.

"Guys, wait, can we please stop here? I heard they have the best cupcakes around! You won't regret it!" She exclaimed with so much passion she was about to burst from excitement.

"... Er, I'd rather we get to our destination first then we'll see afterwards, right guys? It's just half an hour more." The green-haired coordinator looked over to their comrades, a red-head named Solidad and a purple-haired eccentric fellow named Harley.

"Hmm... I' d have to agree with Drew on this one May." Solidad said thoughtfully.

"Sorry doll, you should keep the calories low anyway, you wanna look your best for the festival right? Not like some pig?" Harley said slyly while poking her belly.

May squinted her face in disgust and promptly slapped his hand away.

"First of all, Harley, one cupcake isn't going to make me gain that much! We literally walk everywhere! And secondly... calling overweight people 'pigs' is mean. But then again I don't expect kindness from you." She sighed, wondering why she even wasted her time explaining anything to that man.

"Well girly, you can eat whatever you want now, but you better watch yourself when you're older-"

Drew gave Harley an annoyed look. "Harley shut up for once! Jeez. And maybe they'll have something once we reach Goldenrod, May. I really wanna get there first and scout out the competition. I promise we'll get you something there. Let's go guys!"

"B-but it'll only take two minutes-"

"Those two minutes might matter May, you need to focus. It'll be worth it, I swear. Trust me."

Drew shot her a sympathetic look while mouthing 'sorry' to her and started walking ahead with the others, while May begrudgingly followed behind them, pouting while seeing the lights of the bakery store disappear behind them.

Heartbreak. Disappointment. Longing. All these emotions were lingering in her head as she continued walking. It was just a cupcake to some, but it was a culinary experience to her. It was like stopping and smelling the roses. To experience the top restaurants the world had to offer.

She had always been a fan of travelling and seeing new places, which was one of the main reasons she was trekking the Johto region in the first place. It was also an opportunity to grow with her rivals and force herself to become stronger without the support of her old friends.

But it was times like these, she really missed them. Max's know-it-all attitude and wonder of new Pokémon. Brock's brotherly charm and constant crushes on literally any walking female - which was hilarious most of the time. And... Ash' s enthusiasm and caring side... they were her support team, her personal cheerleaders, and her some of her best-friends.

May giggled as she thought to herself, knowing full well that Ash would have never missed an opportunity to eat with her. She sighed to herself, she really missed him. Her heartbeat was picking up as she remembered their last goodbye, a wave of melancholy washing over her like a waterfall. She quickly took some breaths to hide from Harley, who always liked to tease her about her 'boy-toys', as he liked to call them. Literally any guy she was friends with, he'd tease her, making her life a personal hell.

May shuddered. Classic creepy Harley.

* * *

Around half an hour later, the group made it to Goldenrod city, the bustling harbour city of Johto. The four coordinators looked around excitedly at the contest hall, it was buzzing with activity. Coordinators were brushing their Pokémon, feeding them poke-blocks and poffins, and practising moves.

"This will be interesting..." Drew noted, a hint of excitement evident in his voice.

"Yeah, so many Pokémon I haven't ever seen before, wow." May examined, her spirits quickly picking up in spite of the cupcake disappointment earlier.

The group decided to pick up supplies at the Poke-mart first as they were running low on pokeballs and medicine. May picked up a couple of things and placed them on the counter, however the cashier paused after he saw the name on her credit card.

"Oh! I actually have a delivery for you here, May Maple right?"

May tilted her head. She wasn't expecting anything from her parents, who usually told her when they' d be sending her something. Maybe it was a surprise?

"Yup, that'd be me." She pulled out her ID from her wallet to confirm. The cashier nodded and took out a small box with a red ribbon wrapped around it. She could tell whoever did it had never tied a ribbon before. She inwardly giggled to herself and thanked the cashier.

"Oh, what do you have there, May? Did you get an early birthday present?" Solidad nudged her playfully with her elbow.

May's birthday was coming up, in fact it was next week. So she wasn't too surprised that she got something a week early.

"Maybe! I wonder who it's from though..."

She pulled on the ribbon but it looked like it was glued on tight, so she decided to rip open the packaging. A small note fell out and May picked it up, reading it.  
 _  
'Make a wish._

 _Happy Birthday May!_

 _-Ash_

 _Ps. Sorry, I don' t know how to tie a ribbon. (:_ '

May smiled to herself as she read his name.

* * *

 ** _-A/N: And there you have it. Classic Ash. What's in the box? Find out next week. (;_**

 **I'm actually really excited to write this because it' ll be my first multiple-chapter story, EVER. What better week to publish it than Advanceshipping week, right? If you guys see anything wrong, please let me know right away! I don' t have a beta yet so there might be some things I've missed. Thank you for reading, I appreciate it!**


	2. Wishes

**Thank you so much for the reviews guys! They mean a lot. :)**

 **Also Chloe: Ash's shoelaces are much easier to tie than ribbons, haha. They're slippery! xD**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2: Wishes**

"Attention all coordinators, please make your way to the main hall to prepare to take the stage! I repeat, all coordinators make your way to the main hall!"

May flinched at the words blaring from the loudspeakers from the hall, her fingers almost dropping the small present Ash gifted her. Even though they were all still in the Poke-Mart, it felt like they were blaring right beside her. She quickly put the small box into her fanny pack so she wouldn't lose it. _I guess I'll have to take a look at it after the contest._

As she turned around to face her rivals, all four coordinators locked fiery eyes filled with determination. This was in fact the second time since May's journey in Johto that all of them crossed paths again in a contest. And she wasn't about to lose this time.

"May the best coordinator win."

May put her hand in the middle and the other's followed, stacking their hands on top of one another and raising them in the air afterwards as a final act of solidarity.

Drew grinned and flipped his hair - his signature move. "Well, we know who the best is May, you really want me to win, don't you?"

May scoffed and rolled her eyes, smiling. "Didn't I beat you in the last contest, Drew?"

Harley flashed Drew a condescending smirk. "Hah, she did beat your green tush, Drew. But I'll make all of you beg on your knees eventually."

Solidad laughed wholeheartedly. "You and your antics Harley, they never work on me so you're going to have to try something else. I wish you all the best of luck!" The older coordinator never let Harley crawl under her skin - unlike the others who would eventually get fed up of his schemes pretty rapidly.

"Oh Solly, they'll work eventually, honey~" Harley cooed while May and Drew looked at each other and made a horrified expression. May was done wasting time, she had a contest to win.

"Anyway, last one there's a rotten exeggcute!" May called out as she raced to the hall, the others following suit. She was excited to be facing them, but she was also shaking from anxiety. She was going to be facing three of the most powerful and creative coordinators she had ever met in her life again.

They had become her close friends. They knew her inside out.

It was like a smaller version of the Grand Festival. Just the thought of that made May's stomach tingle, she would have to pull out everything in her arsenal for this one.

As she continued jogging towards the hall, the little box thumped in her bag, as if reminding her that it too, existed. She silently made a note to herself to take a look at it after the contest when she'd have time. The brunette smiled to herself as she thought about Ash, he was never good with remembering any dates. But she was glad that he did this time, because lord knows she needed something to help her through this day. _Though, I bet his mom reminded him that it was my birthday soon._

May nodded to herself, agreeing with her thought. That's definitely exactly what happened.

What May didn't realize however, was that the little box inside her bag was starting to glow.

* * *

"Aaaaand that's a wrap! May will be moving onto the semi-finals tomorrow at two, facing Harley. This will be an interesting one folks, remember to tune in tomorrow! Have a good night folks!" The host exclaimed while May and her defeated opponent bowed together, a wide smile spreading across the brunettes face. They both proceeded to the back of the roaring stage to take care of their Pokémon.

May felt like she was on cloud nine as she descended the stairs and made her way down the hall to her room.

 _She made it to the semi-finals!_

Not that she doubted herself, but she didn't want to be too cocky either. Harley was no joke... even though he acted like one. She frowned a little in revulsion as she recalled Harley dressing up in her old red outfit for one of their contests back in Hoenn.

Her eyes had just started recovering from that scarring incident and she did not want to witness that ever again in a million years...

As she made her way through the hall, she glanced at the photos littered across the hotel hall, many famous co-ordinators, trainers, and showcase performers had stayed at this hotel. One day, her picture would be up here too. She opened her room and swiftly jumped onto her freshly made bed with a new sense of glee, hugging the stuffing out of her pillow. She just had to win this ribbon, it meant so much to her. It was a testament to how much she's grown in the past few months without her her three anchors by her side.

"I really wish all of you were here cheering me on in the stands… but I know in my heart you'll be supporting me. And that's all I need!"

She beamed warmly and stretched over her bed to reach her yellow fanny pack, remembering the early birthday present that she received.

Suddenly, the room turned bright white and light blinded the coordinator, she covered her eyes and flinched. Once the brightness died down, she rubbed her eyes and pulled the fanny pack towards her face to examine it, confused as to what transpired moments ago.

"What the hell was in there-"

"Mini? MINI!" A small, meteor like pokemon cried out, and hugged the flabbergasted coordinator. May blinked and looked down at her torso.

"Huh?... Were you in the present?" May tilted her head and examined the small rock-covered pokémon. It resembled a comet, with wide eyes looking back at her. It's light blue core glowing beneath the cracks. It was… really cute.

May quickly zipped open her fanny pack and took out her Pokedex to examine the new Pokemon.

' _Minior, the meteor pokemon._ _It lives in the ozone layer, where it becomes food for stronger Pokémon. When it tries to run away, it falls to the ground.'_

May frowned and immediately hugged the small pokemon. What an absolutely frightening way to live.

"Oh Minior, don't worry, you'll be safe down here."

The small pokemon smiled up at her, then it suddenly cried out, as if remembering something.

"Minior! Mini! Mini!" The pokemon jumped out of the coordinators arms and floated out of the room, prompting May to follow.

"Hey Minior, what's wrong? Wait up!"

The small pokemon floated until it reached the staircase of the hotel, it continued all the way up the stairs until it finally hit a door. May frantically followed it, reaching the door and gasping for breath.

"Boy, you're fast… why did you come here?"

The small Pokemon pointed at the doors handle shyly.

"Mini…"

"You want to go upto the roof? Well, why didn't you say so!" May smiled back at the Pokemon. It probably missed it's home up there in the big blue sky. She wouldn't mind some star-gazing either… it always made her fear and problems seem insignificant in comparison to the grand scale of, well, space.

She pushed open the door with a thud, and was greeted with a myriad of confetti explosions in her face.

...

"SURPRISE! Happy Birthday May!"

May jumped and almost fell back down the stairs from which she came, but a quick thinking dark haired boy ran to her rescue and grabbed her before she could hurt herself.

"Easy now May!"

She stopped and blinked, staring back into her saviour's piercing hazel eyes.

"A-Ash?! What-what are you doing here?" She gasped, then realized they were standing in an awkward position so she quickly straightened herself up, blushing from embarrassment.

"Celebrating your birthday of course!" Ash smiled back at her.

She stared over at the raven-haired trainer and his group of friends, some familiar, some of whom she had never seen before. The entire roof was decorated with lights, candles, and lamps, creating a soft glow that encompassed everyone's smiling faces. A giant banner that said 'Happy Birthday!' hung in the center, secured to two metal poles that stuck out from the roof.

May was not expecting this at all. It was as if the universe was listening to her very thoughts and granted her this wish. _Thank you universe_ , she silently whispered to herself.

"I don't know what to say… thank you so much! I can't believe you all are here! Brock, Max.. Misty, so many people- oh my gosh. And you must be Ash's new friends?"

She stared over at the colourful group of friends from Alola, a girl with long green hair in ponytails walked over to her and gave her a tight hug.

"That we are! I'm so excited to meet you, May! I'm Mallow!" She let go of the coordinator, who took a moment to take in a deep breath of air after it was squeezed out of her.

"Nice to meet you Mallow, I'm happy you all came!"

"Well, you can thank Ash for that. We're actually in Hoenn for a field trip, we were _supposed_ to leave yesterday but Ash absolutely _insisted_ we stay." The tan-skinned trainer nudged Ash, who laughed and scratched the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.

"Well, it was really a no-brainer, I hadn't seen ya in a while and I wasn't going to miss another birthday of yours. Also, the Alola gang was practically begging to meet you too! Professor Kukui was nice enough to let us stay."

Ash grinned over at the others.

Happiness overwhelmed the trainer, she was so grateful that she had such amazing friends in her life. Her eyes began to water. But she quickly blinked them back, not wanting anyone to worry. Oh, that and her mascara from her contest earlier was still on, and she didn't want to look like a zigzagoon in all the pictures they were bound to take.

"Minior.." Minior looked up at her curiously, prompting May to pick up the glowing creature.

"Come here Minior. Ash... I had space for one more Pokemon and I'm glad you made that choice for me… because he's perfect!"

The young trainer grinned from ear to ear and patted the small pokémon.

"It took me a while to think of what to get ya, and I thought the best gift would be something that could help you in contests."

May looked at him in amusement.

"Help? I mean, I think I'm doing pretty well without your help so far, Ash…"

Ash looked taken aback. He didn't mean for his gift to be taken in the wrong context.

"W-Well, you are, and I'm proud of you! I just thought that-"

May giggled.

"I know, I'm just kidding Ash. I know you always want the best for everyone. I love Minior."

A small navy-haired boy weaved through the crowd holding a slice of cake in his hands. He was hungry, and May would never stop talking… so he had decided to take matters into his own hands.

SPLAT!

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Cake splattered all over the young girl's face, and unfortunately, everyone surrounding her as well.

"MMMMMAAAAAXXX! I SWEAR! YOU'RE GONNA DIE TODAY!"

And for the next five minutes, the sounds of a brother-sister conflict were all the people of the rooftop would hear.

* * *

May walked over to the edge of the rooftop with a drink in her hand, letting the people mingle around her. Brock kept pestering Misty about her sister, who he had a crush on. Misty was about to slap Brock, but then decided to grab Brock's left ear while Max grabbed his right one. The breeder could feel his ears being stretched, all that was going through his mind was that the girls would call him a Mankey.

The Alola gang discussed their next destination, Sinnoh. They were fascinated with Snowpoint City in particular, because most of them hadn't seen snow before. The blonde-haired girl named Lillie kept fiddling with her bag, which kept shaking for some reason.

After a short while, even Drew, Harley, and Solidad showed up. Drew was holding a box with light blue packaging, while Harley and Solidad were holding wrapped boxes in their hands.

"Sorry about the late entrance, the cupcake place took longer than usual to get in the order, ugh. I even called them to make sure!"

Drew placed a box of pastries on the table in a huff, but May immediately recognized the packaging.

"No… you didn't."

Drew grinned and flipped his hair.

"I told you I'd get you the cupcakes."

This was the absolute best birthday ever. Nothing could ever top how she was feeling right now.

* * *

 **A/N: Phew, this was a long chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one, I'm most likely going to keep the chapters around this length from now on. So, a lot of characters are present now, things are about to get interesting. The plot will start to unravel soon, I promise! Thank you for reading & reviewing, it really means a lot. And please point any mistakes out, no worries~**


	3. Truth or Scare

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews again! They make me so happy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3: Truth or Scare**

.

The cold fizzy pop drink bubbled in the brunette's clear glass. A warm breeze gently shifted her bangs and rattled a few of the lanterns that adorned the rooftop. She brought the cool glass up to her lips and took a long sip, savouring the peachy flavour. She sighed contently and looked up at the stars, noticing a large white streak blink across the sky. The brunette closed her eyes and paused, making a small plea to the guardian up above to give her the strength to reach her goals tomorrow.

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a white swirling form.

A vanilla ice cream cone.

"Hey May! Thought you'd like one."

May stepped back a bit, surprised by the sudden sweet in such proximity to her face.

"Ah! Ash, that scared me!" She exclaimed, "But thanks, I was itching to get rid of this sweet tooth." She took the cone from the trainer's hand and grinned widely.

"Ice cream isn't that scary, in fact, it's probably one of my favourite foods." The raven-haired boy grinned back as he took a lick from his dessert. The brunette scoffed as she started on her cone.

" _Everything_ is your favourite food, Ash Ketchum." She smiled as she begun to enjoy her sweet dessert. "I can't believe you actually put together this surprise party Ash... I honestly wasn't expecting anything big at all."

The boy smiled and leaned against the edge of the roof with her.

"We were in Hoenn anyway, and if I can make a friend happy, it's worth it!" He took a lick from his cone again. "Though... the others did help me a lot, I didn't know there'd be that much work involved. Hell, even choosing balloon colours was a headache!"

May giggled to herself, Ash would never change.

"Well, it did make me very happy, Ash. It was just what I needed to calm my nerves before the semi-final tomorrow!" As she continued, she pulled a shiny object out from her pocket slightly hesitantly. Would he even keep this object with him after all this time? It had been a few years, after all.

"Do you still have this with you, Ash?"

The boy recognized the item immediately, and a warm glint raced across his eyes. He nodded and pulled the small object out of his backpack, putting it beside her half completing the two halves of the ribbon.

"Of course I still have it May, it reminds me of how far we've both come."

May smiled and nodded, feeling the same sentiment. She shut her eyes while bringing the ribbon close to her heart and let her mind wander off to that day, the same day pair won the Terracotta medal together.

The spectacular roaring of the crowd, the feeling of both surprise and contentment. They were both perfectly in sync that day. Although, it was also a bit of bittersweet ending for her journey, because it also solidified how much of an influence Ash had on her style.

She opened her eyes again and glanced up at the sky.

"We've both come far Ash, and this ribbon always gave me strength when I was down..." She put the ribbon away in her bag while speaking, "But tonight, I don't need it because I have all the support and courage I could need, right by me."

With both of them still looking up at the sky, the raven-haired trainer placed his hand on her shoulder gently.

"You got this May. You don't need a ribbon, or friends, to remind you of how talented you are. I know, I've seen it with my own eyes. You can beat Harley, you can beat anyone."

May slightly tilted her head and glanced at the young trainer, who continued to look out at the sky. She wished she had half as much confidence as the trainer was suggesting, but if he believed in her this much, she definitely couldn't let him down. She didn't understand why, but just hearing those words coming out from his mouth made a world of difference to her.

"Thank you Ash, for believing in me. I promise I won't let you down."

At this, the trainer took his hand off her shoulder and turned slightly to face her, looking into her eyes.

"Whatever the outcome is May, you could never let me down." He smiled at her, then looked down as he was interrupted by two certain Pokémon.

Minior and Pikachu were looking up at the ice cream cone the pair were holding. Before they could pounce, Ash chuckled and picked up the comet-like Pokémon.

"Oh, don't worry buddy, we'll get you your own cone too!"

May laughed and took out a pokeblock from her bag as well.

"Hey, maybe Minior will like May's blue surprise?" May questioned.

Minior leaned forward excitedly to smell the pale blue pokeblock, as Pikachu watched from Ash's shoulder. Minior took a bite of the pokeblock then immediately turned around and buried its face in Ash's shirt, muffling its cries of horror. May pouted while Ash started to laugh.

"I'm sure Minior just has... Er, selective tastes? Come on May!" He started to make his way back to the food table, while May sulked and followed as well, mumbling under her breath.

"I'm coming... No one appreciates my cooking! Except Munchlax."

* * *

In the lounge area, a large commotion was occurring. The assortment of trainers were all seated in a large circle on the floor, in between the blue velvet couches. Yelling and screaming were exploding from all corners of the large circle of friends.

"It's okay, touch it Misty!" Mallow exclaimed.

"Yeah, you can't back down now..." Brock smirked, content at the dare he had selected for his friend.

"Gah! I seriously hate all of you!" The fiery redhead shot back at the circle of friends. She then turned around and hesitantly drew her hand towards a small, grub-like Pokémon. After a moment, she took in a breath and decided to take the plunge, and poked the bug Pokémon.

"Grubbin?" The wild Pokémon turned its head towards the gym leader.

"EWWWWWWW! IT'S SO SLIMY! AND IT LOOKED AT ME!" Misty instinctively recoiled her hand and crawled back to her spot as swiftly as she could, while the others began to laugh.

"Oh my, and I thought I was afraid of Pokémon..." Lillie giggled.

"Well, that's Misty for ya. She does NOT like bug-types." Brock chuckled, while promptly being slapped by the aforementioned girl.

"You are an ass! You know I'm still trying to get over my fear!" Misty fumed. She still was deathly afraid of bug-type Pokémon. And though she was improving slightly with the bugs back in Kanto, Grubbin was entirely new species for her.

"I was trying to help you get over it! You didn't have to abuse me..." Brock sniffed and shifted so Misty could take her place back in the circle.

"Well it didn't..." She mumbled, while noticing two shadows at the food table from the corner of her eye.

"Oh hey, Ash! May! Come join us in our game!" The redhead waved over at the pair, who were trying to feed Minior ice-cream with a spoon.

May's ears perked up.

"Oh, a game? We're coming!" May turned to Ash excitedly, who promptly picked up Minior and took it along to the lounge with the ice cream in a cup. As they took their place in the circle, Misty glanced around to make sure everyone was present.

"Drew, get your butt here. Don't be a party pooper." Misty ordered.

The coordinator, who had been sitting on the couches with his phone for the past half an hour, sighed.

"I'm kind of busy trying to plan strategies here..."

Misty rolled her eyes, expecting him to say something along those lines.

"This is a party, Drew. What's the point of being here if you're not going to talk or do anything?" She said.

"I mean, she does have a point Drew." May added on.

The coordinator sighed and stood up, putting the phone back in his pocket and joined the others in the circle reluctantly. He couldn't believe they were wasting time like this when the contest was happening tomorrow.

"Alright alright, I'm here. Now what?" The coordinator questioned in slight annoyance.

"Yeah, I actually don't know what you guys are playing." Ash confusingly stated.

"We're playing truth or dare! If the bottle lands on you, you get to decide to either answer a question, or do a dare by the person who spun the bottle. Simple." Mallow explained. Ash nodded to signal that he understood.

"Oh... I've heard of that game but never really played it before. This will be fun!"

May laughed at Ash's refreshing innocence. She knew all too well that games like these could get awkward really quickly, moving on from one embarrassing topic to the next. So she really hoped with all her heart that Harley wouldn't land on her.

"Alright ladies, I'm spinning next.~" The purple-haired man said as he flicked the bottle into a spin. May and Brock glanced at each other and slightly frowned in unison, crossing their fingers in hopes that luck would save them from him.

"Annnnd..."

As the bottle' s momentum slowed, it gently passed by Misty, Brock, Drew, eventually landing on...

"Oh yes! Ashy-boy! Truth or dare time!" Harley grinned menacingly. Poor oblivious Ash didn't know what he was about to get himself into.

"Umm, well I guess I'll go with dare. Try me!" Ash proclaimed, wanting to show that he was brave enough to do whatever embarrassing task the man would ask of him. But little did the young trainer know, Harley could read him like a book. The sneaky coordinator knew exactly what to ask to throw May off of her game for the contest tomorrow. Pressing her buttons was his specialty.

"Yaysies!" Harley clapped. "Okay, Ash I dare you to kiss the girl - or boy depending on if you're gay or not - you like most." Harley proclaimed, with a smug expression on his face. "I hope it isn't your first kiss... that'd be a shame." Harley giggled.

Everyone's jaw immediately dropped in astonishment, and they couldn't help but stare at Harley, not believing the question their ears had just heard.

Max sweatdropped. Brock spit out his drink started coughing. Misty squeezed her fists.

Ash froze.

He looked around at the circle, looking for anyone that could help him out of this extremely awkward situation. How could he kiss one of his friends?! This was his worst nightmare. He didn't want anyone to feel bad about it, either.

At the other end of the circle of friends, May felt a mixture of emotions boiling up in the pit of her stomach. Who would Ash choose? She didn't know how to feel about any of the possible outcomes... but as she stared over at the boy, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She looked down at her lap. Minior had now momentarily paused stuffing its stomach with the cold dessert, and now was glancing at the sky.

"Oh my! Classic Harley." Solidad broke the silence, as she looked over at Ash who still hadn't said anything yet. "Ash, trust me, don't make a big deal of it and just choose someone." She pushed him.

Ash nodded while still contemplating what to say.

" I-I don't mean for this to be awkward... but I guess, um..." He looked as if he was about to run out of the room, but continued on while swallowing his fear, "It's not that I like any of you less, but she was just the first person to come to mind because I was just talking to her... so May, you don't mind... do you?"

May's eyes widened in absolute surprise and a tinge of light pink began to spread across her cheeks.

Out of the five females in the circle... he actually chose her.

The brunette bit her lip and a million thoughts began to swirl around in her head like a dark storm cloud looming over an ocean. _Was this confirmation that Ash actually felt something for her? Or did he only choose her because they were just talking?_ She didn't want to take anything the wrong way. She'd really thought that she had managed to bury her old emotions for Ash away, but all this birthday had done was bring all the feelings that she hid deep inside her heart to come bubbling up again like a volcano ready to erupt. She shifted a little in her spot and swallowed nervously while Harley was grinning from ear to ear, content with the inner turmoil he just put the brunette in.

May could feel the pressure of the moment building up, feeling all eyes glued to her now pink visage. However, when she looked over at the desperate trainer, her mind miraculously cleared all doubts.

"I-sure Ash. I don't mind, don't worry about it." May smiled a little, trying her absolute best to not make the situation more stressful for him than it was.

Brock whistled a catcalling like tune, and everyone turned to him.

"What? I was trying to make it less serious!"

Misty elbowed him.

"You made it more awkward!"

"This is stupid... Just get on with it already so we can move on with this game." Drew blurt out, looking visibly peeved.

Harley chuckled, knowing he just hit two birds with one stone. "Awww, their first kiss! Look Drew, aren't you happy for them?"

Drew mumbled something under his breath as Brock started secretly recording the event without anyone noticing.

May could feel her heart beating even swifter than it was moments ago, she glanced over at the raven haired boy, his wild messy dark hair framing his tan face. His soft brown eyes looked both scared and confused, as if he could also feel her frantic heartbeat through her chest from where he was sitting. She glanced at his lips for a moment, that still had a bit of ice cream left on them. She could almost imagine the feeling of them against hers... it was then she realized that she wouldn't mind that, not at all.

Ash gulped and looked down at Pikachu quickly, the small yellow Pokémon was content with the bottle of ketchup in its hands and had no inkling as to what was occurring around it. He had always relied on his Pokémon when he needed help, but this situation was something that he would have to work out on his own. It's not like this was his first kiss, but that moment with Serena in Kalos was infinitely different than this one. This time, it was his decision.

As he looked into May's eyes, a feeling of warmth emanated towards him and instantly calmed him down. He didn't know why, but she made him feel at home.

Ash leaned forward a bit, not sure how to start the kiss, as May could feel a thousand butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.

 _This is it..._ The brunette thought.

As she also reciprocated his action and leaned in closer, their faces now inches apart, breaths being exchanged between them, Minior tugged on the brunette's shirt.

"Minior!" The Pokémon floated and attempted to redirect their attention up towards the sky, frantically crying out and spilling the ice cream over May's pants. Ash moved back quickly, startled by the sudden movement.

"Minior, what's wrong?!" The brunette asked, her face still tinged a deep shade of pink from being so close to Ash moments ago. She grabbed a tissue and began to wipe her pants clean.

"No! The show was just getting started! Kiss! Kiss!" Harley whined, upset that his plan was being delayed.

"MINIIIII!" It cried out again, as a deafening crash was heard down below followed by a whirlwind of air sending all the decorations loose across the roof. Lanterns flew off and smashed against the walls. The cake toppled down to the floor. The giant birthday banner flew off into the night sky, being whipped against the wind. May could only watch helplessly as she observed the culmination of her friends efforts be utterly destroyed.

The others instantly rose from their seats and sprinted over to the edge of the roof. Many of them had noticed that the air around them felt unusually heavy. As May quickly pulled back the strands of hair from her face to see better, she turned her face towards Ash's, and found that he was staring right back at her, eyebrows scrunched together in worry.

As they all leaned forward to find the source of the noise, the sight that awaited them below was something that no one could have predicted.

"RAAAAAAAAA!"

An ear splitting roar rang through the air, followed by a bright beam of energy which hit several cars, instantly disintegrating them. Chaos and screaming took over Goldenrod's atmosphere, completely opposite to the peacefulness from moments ago. Frightened pedestrians immediately took cover in the various stores on the street below, with many of them pulling out their phones to dial for help. The large, green, snake like Pokémon turned its head towards the direction of the Poke-Mart, eyes gleaming as if it had picked out its next prey.

"W-What is Rayquaza doing?! It's not supposed to be down here!" The younger Maple exclaimed, blurting out what everyone was thinking.

"I don''t know Max... but we have to help the people down there!" May exclaimed, pointing to the frightened children and people that had gotten injured by the earlier hyperbeam.

Ash's face drained of colour as he looked over at his friends. Rayquaza was one legendary that was extremely powerful and deadly when it was angry.

"It's too dangerous down there... You guys wait up here, I'll go down there myself!" He started, almost daring anyone to challenge him.

"Ash, I know you're an idiot, but you have to be extremely idiotic to be going down there alone. And even more idiotic to think we'd even let you do that." Misty declared, already grabbing her backpack in anticipation. The others nodded while May glanced over at her younger brother.

"Max, you have to go back inside and find shelter, I'm going with Ash-" But her words were cut off with a fury she had never witnessed before.

"May, I'm not seven anymore! I'm twelve! I'm more than capable now, I've beaten gym leaders, I've even beaten you once, I can handle this!" He fumed.

May stared back at her brother in worry, as the sounds of more screams echoed through the dense night.

"I know you're strong Max... but I can't help but worry." She sighed, giving in. "You're staying close to me and you better stay in my sights or you'll deal with something worse than an angry Rayquaza!" Max grinned back at her and grabbed his backpack as well.

After a few moments of preparation, everyone began to make their way down the stairs much to Harley's dismay. The elevator had been shut down due to the power outages on the street.

May didn't know why Rayquaza was here, or what was going on, but there wasn't any time to figure that out. She jogged down the stairs, while Ash was unusually quiet, following closely behind her.

"May, are you sure about this?" Ash questioned, prompting the green-haired coordinator beside him to chuckle.

"She's not a kid, Ash. May's strong. If she says she can handle it, then she can handle it." Drew responded, while May glanced over at him then back at Ash who clenched his fist into a ball.

"That's not why I'm asking Drew, and you know it. I know she's more than capable, I'm just worried about her..." He paused, trying to make Drew see his point of view. "You know, like how she's worried about Max."

"So like an overprotective mother? Got it."

May couldn't handle this right now.

"Guys stop! The situation is already tense and you're making it worse!" She glared at Drew, who shrugged his shoulders and looked ahead.

"I don't want to sit behind while everyone else puts themselves at risk, Ash. Don't worry about me, really. I'll be right by you." Ash nodded and fixed his cap. He wanted to add something on about how he couldn't help but worry, but he decided to withhold himself, though still angry at Drew's earlier response.

* * *

"Professor Birch! What in the world are you doing?! Do you even know what's going on right now?!"

A frantic man rushed over to the lounging professor. He was clothed in lab coat similar to Birch's, but he was much tanner and taller than he was. Around them, machines were whirring with energy. Large computers were lined across the wall, with several scientists seated at them.

"Ah, Professor Kukui, what seems to be the matter?" The brown haired professor replied, opening one eye.

"Seriously Birch, get up now. It's about your research."

Professor Birch yawned and stood up from his recliner, stretching his arms and tilting his head.

"Well, I'm currently researching many things, is it about the Herd Mentality assignment you're working on in Hoenn?"

Professor Kukui shook his head quickly and took out his tablet, pointing to a picture of the Earth with several layers labelled on it.

"No, it's about your research into the atmospheric ecosystem, I'm afraid there's something terribly wrong."

At this, Birch straightened up his back and put himself at full attention of the Alolan professor. Kukui zoomed into the outer-most layer of the Earth diagram, labelled 'Exosphere'.

"Normally, the Exosphere contains many different organisms, for example..." He swiped on the screen to show a picture with several Pokémon on it. "Like particles from satellites, broken meteors, and even Pokémon like Cleffa, Elgyhem, Beheeyem, Lunatone, Solrock, Minior, and so on and so forth." He swiped the screen again. "And more powerful beings such as Rayquaza, or Deoxys, or even Kyurem, who can occasionally eat the smaller Pokémon as well for sustenance."

Professor Birch nodded, wheels turning in his head in the meantime. "Yes, I am familiar with that research. It's exciting, isn't it?! I've visited the Weather Institute quite a few times and assisted them. So what's wrong?"

Professor Kukui looked at him worriedly.

"It's just that... All the smaller Pokémon..." He frowned.

"... They just vanished."

* * *

 **.**

 **A/N: Truth or Scare indeed...**

 **(See what I did with the title? LOL okay I'll stop). I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the AS moments (I know a lot of people wanted more, but I'm slowly building it up)!**

 **I apologize for taking longer than usual to update, I wanted to plan out the whole story before I continued writing because there were a lot of storylines to work on. I hope to update within a week, most likely by Dec 15th (for the couple of readers who were asking). Happy Holidays!**


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